Oblivion
by seasaltmemories
Summary: He was targeting him by hurting her, and that was the worst punishment Fakir could imagine.


When he opened his eyes again, he found her standing before him, smiling and laughing like she should be. For a second, he considered reality to be a bad nightmare, but then he noticed her body lacks the scars that decorate her skin. No matter how much he wished, she was not the Ahiru of flesh and bone. But even so maybe it was a start to getting her back.

"Fakir," She grinned as she reached out to him. "I knew you'd come."

"Did it work?" He pinched his arm to test for pain. "Is that really you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm Ahiru the shape-shifter," On cue her arms turned into white wings, "And you're Fakir the ink wizard, am I right?" Bright blue eyes look him over, but they hold no familiarity. This dream version of her knows of him, but in the way one knows a stranger or acquaintance.

"That's correct," He sighed, locking away any feeling that might get in the way of the mission.

"Oh good," She smiled the same way Ahiru smiled before shifting her arms back to normal and taking his hands. "No come on, we have work to do!" They take off, each step triggering a memory underneath their feet. He doesn't have time to watch them closely, but they seem to go in reverse chronological order. The scenes keep going back and back. It is unnerving seeing time's flow in reverse. Autor had warned him going into her mind would be like nothing else, but even then he was still not prepared.

"So, are you Ahiru or..."

"I am Ahiru, but I'm not the Ahiru you know," She didn't bat an eye at his weird look. "I make sure the inner workings of her mind are running smooth. I keep track of and handle her memories, organizing them, choosing what to forget and what to remember. I experience every thing she does, but only second-hand. For example I know all her inner thoughts about the ink wizard, Fakir, but I do not feel or think these things myself."

She winked and sent Fakir blushing red as a tomato before he composed himself once more.

"If that's the case, then do you know why I'm here?"

At his words, memory Ahiru faltered, her giant grin started to fade, and they stopped at a memory of Ahiru hanging from a tree as Fakir scolded her.

"I do know what has happened to the Ahiru of flesh and bone," Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at the memory below them. "Drosselmeyer has cursed her into an eternal slumber. It's been weeks since I've gotten any new memories to process."

Despite the fact this was not the Ahiru he had adventured with in search of Mytho, he couldn't help but wrap her in his arms and rest her head in the crook of his neck. "Hey, don't cry. I won't let her sleep forever. Autor and I are determined to save you guys."

"I've known that," She sighed as she stepped back to dry her eyes. "Even though you have downplayed your heritage as one of the few remaining ink wizards, you'd do anything for her, which is why I have brought you here."

"Our first meeting," Fakir felt like he was there himself, annoyed by this random civilian trespassing on palace grounds. It was almost funny how he didn't realize back then how much he'd grow to love her, how much she'd influence him and remind him of the boy he used to be.

"I've done some calculations and research of my own, and I've deduced that to break Drosselmeyer's curse, we need to erase one, specific memory from time."

"That's impossible! I can't go back to being like I was before I met her!" Green eyes blazed with determination. He had been such an angry and bitter person, so consumed with the fortunes of an oracle. Was Drosselmeyer willing to ruin several lives so that he'd be back in the palm of his hand? Was he willing to make Fakir forget the most important person in his life?

"Don't worry, the only one who will be doing the forgetting is the Ahiru you know."

"And how is that any better!?"

"Do you think I like this any more than you do!" Her shouting caught him off guard. Ahiru rarely got angry, and he never knew how to react when that happened. "I love Ahiru more than you ever could, and I've seen both of you fall deeply and madly in love. Still, I'm Ahiru, herself! Nobody could love her more than me," She looked away, the tears streaming down her face once more. "That's why it hurts so much having to make her forget you."

Fakir sighed, unsure what to do. Seeing any Ahiru upset was enough to make him feel useless for not being able to put a smile right back onto her face, but with the revelation that _she would forget his entire existence_ , he was barely able to keep from breaking down himself. This was even crueler than he expected of Drosselmeyer. With that day erased from her memory, it would like be every other day afterwords never happened. If they had never met, then she would have never formed relationships with Rue, Mytho, Autor, Uzura, and everyone else. He was targeting him by hurting her, and that was the worst punishment he could imagine.

"Hey, I can't have you crying too," It was only then Fakir noticed his tears. "Come on, let's get rid of those." She pushed swan wings into his face, drying them off quickly.

"You're still crying though," A little part of himself died from seeing her still so vulnerable.

"I'm fine," She tried to smile between her sobs. "My job is to take care of Ahiru, taking care of you is no stretch. We just need to get this over with quickly, like ripping off a band-aid."

"But this is serious. How can I do something like this to her without her consent?" He felt like Drosselmeyer, tampering with someone's life so intimately. He shouldn't be able to decide her fate so freely.

"Come on, I told you already, I am Ahiru, even though in some ways I'm not," She closed the distance between them in two steps and took his hands. "You'll love her, even if she doesn't remember you. And that applies to everyone else as well. If those bonds are as strong as I believe they are, they can be reforged again. She can fall in love with you again."

"This isn't about me. I just don't want to ruin her life," However, Fakir pulled his wand out of his coat pockets as he spoke. If this was as close to their Ahiru he could get, then he'd accept her permission to play God.

With a few ancient words, his wand extend into a sword. As his grip around the hilt tightened, he found Ahiru's hands holding onto it as well. Her tears had finally ended, replaced with that familiar, determined blue stare.

"Fakir," It was the first time the Memory Ahiru had called his name since their introductions. "I've never done this before, but I'll make sure to hold onto the memories of these last few years. Your Ahiru will forget, but I won't."

"Thank you," Somehow, he was able to choke out those words. "On the count of three-"

"One,"

"Two,"

"Three!" With that, the sword came down, shattering the memory into a thousand pieces.

* * *

 **A.N. For trixystix on tumblr, I was trying to be creative instead of going with generic fantasy, but then I made this painful thing, in the end I think it was clear enough, and it was pretty fun to write!**


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